Join Us

Kennebec JournalApril 15, 2008David B. Offer writes, “Just when we thought the world, or at least Maine, was safe from another bigoted campaign against gay men and women, the League is launching a new referendum effort to repeal every law providing protection to people who have long faced discrimination.” [Link]

Morning SentinelOctober 31, 2007A ruling by the Maine Supreme Court that focuses on adoption as a source of protection for children of same-sex couples is spurring couples to adopt. Same-sex couples cannot marry in Maine, which prevents them from receiving automatic protections for their families. [Link]

The Washington PostSeptember 16, 2007Since the freedom to marry came to Massachusetts in 2004, attendance at Boston's annual Gay Pride Day, a major attraction for visitors, has more than doubled, according to the Massachusetts tourism bureau. Last June, attendance exceeded 100,000, compared with 40,000 three years ago. Although Vermont tourism officials don't tally visitors according to sexual orientation, several innkeepers report a strong rise in their gay clientele since civil unions were legalized in 2000. [Link]

ReutersJuly 9, 2007The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed as a federal judge a woman who attended a same-sex commitment ceremony, overwhelmingly rejecting the concerns of a Republican senator running for the White House. The vote was 83-4 in favor of elevating Michigan state judge Janet Neff to federal district court. [Link]

The PhoenixJune 6, 2007"Marriage," Betsy Smith, the executive director of Equality Maine, says confidently when asked what her group's plan is for the future. She even offers a timetable: three to five years. "We know civil unions don't work in a real world, only marriage works in a real world," says Equality Maine's Darlene Huntress, noting that, like New Jersey, Connecticut, and Vermont, New Hampshire actually started with a push for marriage. [Link]

Associated Press (Express Gay News)December 28, 2005Maine became the last New England State to protect same-sex couples from discrimination as a law that voters refused to repeal last month quietly went into effect on Wednesday. 55 percent of Maine voters rejected a proposal to repeal a legislatively enacted law to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, credit, public accomodations and education. [Link]